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Read and share online: https://www.fsf.org/free-software-supporter/2023/may
Welcome to the Free Software Supporter, the Free Software
Foundation's (FSF) monthly news digest and action update -- being read
by you and 231,184 other activists. That's 338 more than last month!
TABLE OF CONTENTS
- Tech team intern Nick Shrader shares why free software is important
- Call on the IRS to provide libre tax-filing software
- Watch the LibrePlanet: Charting the Course videos on GNU MediaGoblin and PeerTube
- Google's decision to deprecate JPEG-XL emphasizes the need for browser choice and free formats
- Free Software Gigabit Mini VPN Router (TPE-R1400) from ThinkPenguin, Inc. now FSF-certified to respect your freedom
- An interview with Alexandre Oliva, lead developer of Linux-libre at FSFLA
- Wrong time to weaken encryption, UK IT-chartered institute tells government
- Announcing FerretDB 1.0 GA -- a free software MongoDB replacement
- Tesla workers shared images from car cameras, including "scenes of intimacy"
- April GNU Emacs news
- Join the FSF and friends in updating the Free Software Directory
- LibrePlanet featured resource: Tax Liberation
- April GNU Spotlight with Amin Bandali: Eighteen new GNU releases!
- FSF and other free software events
- Thank GNUs!
- GNU copyright contributions
- Translations of the Free Software Supporter
- Take action with the FSF!
View this issue online here: https://www.fsf.org/free-software-supporter/2023/may
Encourage your friends to subscribe and help us build an audience by
adding our subscriber widget to your website.
Miss an issue? You can catch up on back issues at
https://www.fsf.org/free-software-supporter.
Want to read this newsletter translated into another language? Scroll
to the end to read the Supporter in French or Spanish.
Tech team intern Nick Shrader shares why free software is important
From April 27
The FSF's latest tech intern Nick Shrader shares his journey up the
freedom ladder, his experience as an intern, and why he believes free
software is so very important. Currently working in heavy industry in
Louisiana, Nick provides his perspective on the conceptual
similarities between working with mechanical systems and computers,
and why software freedom is a must for tinkering, upgrading, and
repairability. Explaining how nonfree software was forcing unwanted
"updates" upon him, he tells how he switched to GNU/Linux and,
ultimately, how free software has enabled him to further educate
himself.
Note: Interested in interning at the FSF? There's still time to
apply! Apply ASAP at https://www.fsf.org/volunteer/internships.
Call on the IRS to provide libre tax-filing software
From April 25
US taxpayers: Tell the IRS that you want to file your taxes in
freedom! For far too long, many US taxpayers have felt that they have
no other option than to use nonfree software or a Service as a
Software Substitute (SaaSS), giving up their freedom as well as their
most private financial information to a third-party company, in order
to file taxes. Whether or not taxpayers were able to file their taxes
gratis, they often had to give up their freedom in order to
file. However, with the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, now
is the time to tell the IRS that what the public needs is a tax filing
system in which every taxpayer can file their taxes entirely with free
software. Read and share the article, and send a letter to the IRS
commissioner.
Watch the LibrePlanet: Charting the Course videos on GNU MediaGoblin and PeerTube
From April 18
This year's LibrePlanet hosted over forty talks over two days,
offering interesting, insightful information on everything from
"Finding a job while caring about free software" to "The state of free
software in farming, food, & agriculture." Now, recordings of those
talks are published in video and audio, and slides are available as
well. Watch an interesting talk you may have missed, share a link to a
relevant talk with others, or just listen to your favorite talks again
and again while doing your daily routine. Plus, the LibrePlanet 2023
program page now has links to all recorded videos, audio, and
accompanying slides. You can watch them in the LibrePlanet archives on
MediaGoblin, as well as on the FSF's PeerTube channel.
Google's decision to deprecate JPEG-XL emphasizes the need for browser choice and free formats
From April 12
Despite Chromium users pleading with Google not to make the decision,
in February, Google deprecated the JPEG-XL image format in favor of
its own patented AVIF format. Google's stated rationale for the
deprecation is that "there is not enough interest [...] to continue
experimenting with JPEG-XL." This makes the company seemingly ignorant
of the fact that -- on its own issue tracker -- the issue regarding
JPEG-XL's removal is the second-most "starred" issue in the history of
the Chromium project. What's at stake here is control and freedom.
Fortunately, there are things we can do to show "the big G" that we
won't be bossed around.
Free Software Gigabit Mini VPN Router (TPE-R1400) from ThinkPenguin, Inc. now FSF-certified to respect your freedom
From April 6
The FSF recently awarded Respects Your Freedom (RYF) certification to
the Free Software Gigabit Mini VPN Router (TPE-R1400) from
ThinkPenguin, Inc. This adds itself to a growing list of RYF
certifications for the company, including the Free Software Wireless-N
Mini Router, which is the predecessor of the TPE-R1400 and served as a
case study in excellent free software license compliance for devices
in "Copyleft and the GNU General Public License: A comprehensive
tutorial and guide." Of the router itself, FSF's copyright and
licensing associate Craig Topham said, "The latest version of
ThinkPenguin's VPN router lets its users take advantage of
gigabit-per-second Internet connections while protecting their rights
and privacy."
An interview with Alexandre Oliva, lead developer of Linux-libre at FSFLA
From April 24 by Manish
Alexandre Oliva recently shared his perspective on a wide range of
free software topics, as well as gave an update about his work as
co-maintainer of Linux-libre, the fully free version of the
kernel. Along with Jason Self, who has recently joined the ongoing
effort, Alex currently continues the work that Jeff Moe, the original
maintainer, began. Ensuring that Linux-libre "is released in
accordance with the values of free software," Alex and Jason's work is
a critical component of ethical distributions.
Wrong time to weaken encryption, UK IT-chartered institute tells government
From April 18 by Lindsay Clark
Encryption is important for many reasons, from storing one's passwords
securely to communicating privately with loved ones. Based on
innocuous, yet sophisticated mathematical and algorithmic methods,
encryption is being targeted in a high-stakes political battle in the
United Kingdom. The so-called "Online Safety Bill," which reached
the House of Lords last month, threatens to require a backdoor that
would allow companies and governments to monitor all communication.
Signal and Element, among other organizations, have sent an open
letter to both the European Union, which is also considering similar
bills, as well as the UK. Quoting from PGP inventor Phil Zimmermann,
it says, "if privacy is outlawed, only outlaws will have privacy."
Take action: educate yourself and others about encryption by reading
and sharing our Email Self-Defense guide:
https://emailselfdefense.fsf.org/
Announcing FerretDB 1.0 GA -- a free software MongoDB replacement
From April 11 by Peter Farkas
FerretDB, a free software replacement for MongoDB, has just announced
its first production-ready release. FerretDB is licensed under the
Apache 2.0 license, a free software license.
According to the announcement, "FerretDB 1.0 GA includes all the
essential features capable of running document database workloads."
Currently, FerretDB is being tested on applications such as
BigBlueButton, a free software videoconferencing system. For those who
have been rightfully concerned over MongoDB's change of license
conditions in 2018, this is welcome news indeed.
Tesla workers shared images from car cameras, including "scenes of intimacy"
From April 6 by Jon Brodkin
Perhaps unsurprising to readers of the Supporter, news broke
recently that photos taken from Tesla vehicles were abused. Sometimes
capturing intimate moments in the lives of car owners, as well as
unwitting passersby, photos taken by the cars (and subsequently sent
to Tesla) were shared among staff responsible for viewing them. As
embarrassing as this may be to the people whose privacy has been
abused by this system, it's an abuse that happens all too often in
tandem with proprietary software. When choosing a device that has
software -- whether that be a phone or a car -- choose free software
and reject nonfree software. By doing so, you can verify that your
privacy is being respected.
April GNU Emacs news
From 24 April by Sacha Chua
In these issues: supporting maintainers, praise for Jinx Enchanted
Spell Checker, comic strips in GNU Emacs, and more!
Join the FSF and friends in updating the Free Software Directory
Tens of thousands of people visit directory.fsf.org each month to
discover free software. Each entry in the Directory contains a wealth
of useful information, from basic category and descriptions to version
control, IRC channels, documentation, and licensing. The Free Software
Directory has been a great resource to software users over the past
decade, but it needs your help staying up-to-date with new and
exciting free software projects.
To help, join our weekly IRC meetings on Fridays. Meetings take place
in the #fsf channel on Libera.Chat, and usually include a handful of
regulars as well as newcomers. Libera.Chat is accessible from any IRC
client -- Everyone's welcome!
The next meeting is Friday, May 5 from 12:00 to 15:00 EDT (16:00 to
19:00 UTC). Details here:
LibrePlanet featured resource: Tax Liberation
Every month on the LibrePlanet
wiki, we highlight one
resource that is interesting and useful -- often one that could use
your help.
For this month, we are highlighting "Tax liberation," a page for free
software advocates to collaborate toward a libre tax-filing system.
Still in its formative stage, we hope it will become a useful
reference as we work toward ensuring that no taxpayer feels obligated
to run nonfree software in order to file. You are invited to adopt,
spread and improve this promising resource.
Do you have a suggestion for next month's featured resource? Let us
know at [email protected].
April GNU Spotlight with Amin Bandali: Eighteen new GNU releases!
From April 29 by Amin Bandali
Eighteen new GNU releases in the last month (as of April 29, 2023):
For a full list with descriptions, please see:
https://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/april-gnu-spotlight-with-amin-bandali-eighteen-new-gnu-releases
For announcements of most new GNU releases, subscribe to the info-gnu
mailing list: https://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/info-gnu.
To download: nearly all GNU software is available most reliably from
https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/. Optionally, you may find faster download
speeds at a mirror located geographically closer to you by choosing
from the list of mirrors published at
https://www.gnu.org/prep/ftp.html, or you may use
https://ftpmirror.gnu.org/ to be automatically redirected to a
(hopefully) nearby and up-to-date mirror.
This month, we welcome David Thompson as a new co-maintainer of
guile-opengl.
A number of GNU packages, as well as the GNU operating system as a
whole, are looking for maintainers and other assistance. Please see
https://www.gnu.org/server/takeaction.html#unmaint if you'd like to
help. The general page on how to help GNU is at
https://www.gnu.org/help/help.html.
If you have a working or partly working program that you'd like to
offer to the GNU project as a GNU package, see
https://www.gnu.org/help/evaluation.html.
As always, please feel free to write to me, [email protected], with
any GNUish questions or suggestions for future installments.
FSF and other free software events
- May 8, Online, LeanWeb: A Ruby (out of rails) web framework for static and dynamic content by Felix Freeman
- May 10-12, 2023, Vancouver, Canada, OSSNA
- May 15, 2023, Online, LibrePlanet workshop -- Digital colonialism, surveillance capitalism, and a libre software future by Jose Castro
- May 30, 2023, Online, LibrePlanet talk -- BigCode: Open and responsible research on code-generating AI systems
- Jun 05, 2023, Online, WorldVistA EHR version of the Department of Veterans Affairs Electronic Health Record by Nancy Anthracite
- July 13-16, 2023, Oregon Convention Center, Portland, OR FOSSY
Thank GNUs!
We appreciate everyone who donates to the Free Software Foundation,
and we'd like to give special recognition to the folks who have
donated $500 or more in the last month.
This month, a big Thank GNU to:
- Andrew Gaul
- David Almassian
- Dwight Cass
- Edward Flick
- František Kučera
- John Rakestraw
- Paul Becker
- Reynaldo Cordero
- Roger Trimble
- Stéphane Bortzmeyer
- Uko Kokņevičs
You can add your name to this list by donating at
https://donate.fsf.org/.
GNU copyright contributions
Assigning your copyright to the Free Software Foundation helps us
defend the GNU GPL and keep software free. The following individuals
have assigned their copyright to the FSF (and allowed public
appreciation) in the past month:
- Arto Olavi Jantunen (GNU Emacs)
- Eshel Yaron (GNU Emacs)
- Fathma Mehnoor (GNU Astro)
- John Lee (GNU Emacs)
- Sebastian Tennant (GNU Emacs)
- Vincenzo Pupillo (GNU Emacs)
- 谢骐 (Shynur) (GNU Emacs)
Want to see your name on this list? Contribute to GNU and assign your
copyright to the FSF.
Translations of the Free Software Supporter
El Free Software Supporter está disponible en español. Para ver la
versión en español haz click aquí:
https://www.fsf.org/free-software-supporter/2023/mayo
Para cambiar las preferencias de usuario y recibir los próximos
números del Supporter en español, haz click aquí:
https://my.fsf.org/civicrm/profile/create?reset=1&gid=34&id=3095323&cs=45977633b3e8f17a97d89c578403c6a8_1682988998_168
Le Free Software Supporter est disponible en français. Pour voir la
version française cliquez ici:
https://www.fsf.org/free-software-supporter/2023/mai
Pour modifier vos préférences et recevoir les prochaines
publications du Supporter en français, cliquez ici:
https://my.fsf.org/civicrm/profile/create?reset=1&gid=34&id=3095323&cs=45977633b3e8f17a97d89c578403c6a8_1682988998_168
Take action with the FSF!
Contributions from thousands of individual associate members enable
the FSF's work. You can contribute by joining at
https://my.fsf.org/join. If you're already a member, you can help
refer new members (and earn some rewards) by adding a line with your
member number to your email signature like:
I'm an FSF member -- Help us support software freedom!
https://my.fsf.org/join
The FSF is always looking for
volunteers. From rabble-rousing to
hacking, from issue coordination to envelope stuffing -- there's
something here for everybody to do. Also, head over to our campaigns
section and take action on software
patents, Digital Restrictions
Management, free
software adoption,
OpenDocument,
and more.
Do you read and write Portuguese and English? The FSF is looking
for translators for the Free Software Supporter. Please send an
email to [email protected] with your interest and a list of your
experience and qualifications.
Copyright © 2023 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
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